This invention relates generally to kettles for boiling water, and more particularly to a teakettle whose spout has a whistle cap thereon which emits a whistling sound when the water in the kettle proceeds to boil.
A teakettle is a covered kettle with a handle or bail for boiling water, the kettle having a spout to dispense the water. Such kettles are used not only to boil water for brewing tea, but also for making coffee and other beverages.
The preferred technique for brewing tea or other beverages requires that the water used for this purpose be brought to the boiling point and then poured, for excessive boiling drives out oxygen dissolved in the water and tends to impart a flat taste to the beverage. It therefore becomes desirable to know just when the water is brought to a boil.
To this end, the present practice is to pivotally mount over the mouth of the spout a whistle cap which emits a shrill sound when steam is forced therethrough, indicating that boiling is taking place. The whistle for this purpose includes a cavity through which passes the pressurized steam discharged from the spout.
In order to pour the boiling water from the kettle, it is necessary to lift the whistle cap from the spout. To facilitate this operation, the pivoted whistle is ordinarily provided with a finger-operated lever.
The difficulty usually experienced with a conventional teakettle having a whistle-capped spout is that the user who holds the kettle by its handle is also required with a finger of this hand to manipulate the lever of the cap. If the user grasps the arched handle at its top, then the lever of the cap may be out of reach of the finger and the user must shift the position of his hand to reach the lever. This operation is awkward and somewhat difficult to execute, particularly since the kettle then contains boiling water and must be carefully handled.